Insult my grappling ability!

Hi guys -

Earlier on today, I competed in the Northern Ireland Tai-jitsu Association grappling open. I took 3rd place in the intermediate category (open weight) which is supposed to be brown belt and under, altho as you can see I didnt exactly end up fighting people of those grades..

As the tournament was open, essentially anyone could enter.

I had the cunning plan of bringing along my digital camera, which takes good videos with the annoying side effect of cutting out every 20 seconds - so sometimes something is missed.

Anyhoo, I wanted to ask for some helpful tips (i.e. harsh harsh criticism which will however be very useful).

Disclaimer: I am not a representative of gracie barra northern ireland. When i asked my instructor if he was okay with my competing in the competition, his exact words were "If you want to compete that's fine, but you're not competing as a representative of this club, don't even mention the club." I have only been training BJJ for 3 months, hence his reasoning.

I ended up 2-2. Fights are as follows:

(I'm always the one with the white belt and start on the right hand side; my opponent is always a coloured belt or black and starts on the left hand side)

This guy was a 3rd degree blackbelt in Judo and had a 27kg (59lb) weight advantage on me. Problems noticed: I had a lot of trouble trying to defend his x choke and was getting stacked a lot. My triangle attempt should have been far tighter and I probably wouldn't have gotten passed.

This was much better. Problems i noticed: I went to the wrong side when I got my triangle. I favour the right side so going to the left screwed me up a bit. My sweep was very sloppy. I didnt straighten my leg as much as i should have when passing the HG and so I had to reach back with my hand. I was pleased with my ability to hold the armbar position and roll my opponent over.

Problems noticed: I was getting stacked again. This guy also went for the x choke in my guard. I really need to get better at defending and countering this. A very irritating one - I swept him quite a few times because his posture was terrible, and then I had a complete inability to hold mount. I was quite pleased with the first armbar attempt - I basically had it and then he picked me up. I'd be very interested to know what some of the more experienced guys would do - crank it before he can lift me, as he lifts me, let go of it, etc.
I liked my sneaky "go round the back right away" move but while the speed was good, I didnt get my hooks in properly and he was able to turn to guard.

This annoyed the hell out of me. Yet again, I got stacked and choked in guard - my triangles were not tight enough. At one point I got an armbar which he was able to pull out of - I was talking to him later on and he said he actually had a bit of swelling in his arm, so I must have at least been doing something right. The video finishes literally as I'm raising my hand to tap, he had a sloppy X choke but he was driving his fist into my throat.

Conclusions:

I really need to work on defending being stacked and lapel choked in my guard. When I watch the videos and look for mistakes, this is the huge thing that stands out to me.

I also need to get better at holding mount. I was very annoyed that despite getting some (admittedly not great technique) sweeps, I was rolled right back to guard. I feel if I had been able to hold mount better I could have potentially submitted my opponent in the 3rd fight instead of winning a decision.

My technique in general needs to become sharper. I will be doing a lot of drilling to work on this.

NB:
If you want you can also watch Jonny, a student who has been training at my club for a year, demolish his way through the advanced open weight section. Again, jonny is not a representative for gracie barra NI, altho I think it's pretty fucking impressive that he rips apart people who have been training for a very very long time despite only having 1 yearss worth of training himself. He ended up getting a nice gold medal for his efforts.

He's the one wearing the black gi with all the logos on it.

Feel free to criticise his technique too - it makes me feel better. :-)Jonny's first fight
He wins via triangle, the vid cuts out about 5 seconds before he gets it.

Jonny's third fight
I thought this was the most impressive due to the huge size difference - Jonny weighs about 65kg (about 145lb) and his opponent weighs about 100kg (220lb) and is a 3rd degree black belt in judo, as well as an instructor. Same guy who pwned me in my first fight.

Disclaimer: I am not a representative of gracie barra northern ireland. When i asked my instructor if he was okay with my competing in the competition, his exact words were "If you want to compete that's fine, but you're not competing as a representative of this club, don't even mention the club." I have only been training BJJ for 3 months, hence his reasoning.

[even more omitted text, all of it interesting]

LMAO. "Don't even mention the club." I think over here that means "fly under the radar." I'm sure you did at the meet, but surely the other club's members have computers and read Bullshido, no?

Well, I loved the videos and you've got guts of steel to go do something like that with only 3 months under your belt. Wow, my hat's off to you! :blob1: